1 . Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the generation of image sequences responsive to the contents of a time schedule file and, in particular, where the time schedule file determines the sequence, duration and initiation time for the generation of the image sequences.
The present invention further relates to a method and apparatus for displaying, on an LED matrix display, a selected one of many template images responsive to the message content of a communications packet received. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for configuring a single LED matrix display to have a plurality of virtual displays. The present invention further relates to a method and apparatus for configuring the LED matrix display as regards the template image to be displayed, the number of virtual displays, the size and location of the individual virtual displays, and the message file to be used within each individual virtual display, such configuring of the LED matrix display being responsive to the contents of a configuration file.
The present invention still further relates to a method and apparatus for providing billing information in response to: the date, time of day, the repetitiveness and the duration of image sequences displayed.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for displaying, on the LED matrix display, descriptive error messages responsive to varied operating conditions.
2. Description of Prior Art
LED matrix displays have traditionally been used as a message display for various applications such as a marquee for special attractions, time and date, news events, sports events, etc. and is often used to advertise products or services to the general public or a particular market. Generally such products or services are advertised by simple text messages or complex animation sequences which describe the benefits of the products/services and in many cases is a visual message on a specialized display configured only for that purpose.
An LED matrix display, for displaying sophisticated imagery is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 451,976, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE WITH MATRIX DISPLAY PANELS" and is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application.
In the prior art, the LED matrix sequentially displays image sequences (text and/or animation) in a predetermined order. Therefore, for example, multiple advertisement messages could be sequentially displayed until the last message is displayed at which time the sequence repeats. However, the above described sequencing is not sufficiently flexible to meet many desired applications. In some instances, it is desired to display particular messages only on certain days and/or only during certain times of the day. For example, a message for a lunch special at a restaurant might need to be displayed from 11 AM through 2 PM on Monday through Friday.
To accomplish the above task the prior art matrix displays required that an operator intervene to change the sequence of the messages at 11 AM to include the lunch special message, and again at 2 PM to exclude the same. As a result such desired applications are often avoided due to the required burdensome operator intervention.
Clients often pay to have advertising messages displayed on the LED matrix displays. As in other forms of media, such as radio and TV, it is desired to track and account for the messages displayed as a function of the message's repetitiveness, duration, the time of day in which the message is displayed, and whether any attempted messages were aborted. However, in the prior art matrix displays, such tracking and accounting can not be accomplished automatically since the cyclical sequencing of the messages is not synchronized with the time of day. Furthermore due to the inability to automatically track and account for messages as a function of the time of day, bills can not be generated wherein varied billing rates are applied to messages as a function of the time period displayed (such as prime-time or drive-time billing methods used by many advertising agencies.)
Prior art LED matrix displays, such as game football and baseball score boards, are generally limited to a single sports application. Prior art LED matrix displays use a pre-generated sequence of frames to show images and/or animations. However, using such a method is not cost effective for a sports display because the images cannot be pre-generated while allowing for all possible combinations of the scores and statistics. Therefore, sports score boards generally contain fixed headers (a template) for defining information such as, in the case of baseball, runs per inning, the total number of hits, and the total number of errors. The variable information is provided, by an operator, to the score board as the information is obtained.
Another disadvantage of the prior art LED matrix displays is the inability to segment the display area into various independent virtual display areas. Therefore, for applications that typically require more than one display, such as a gaming progressive jackpot application, multiple independent displays were provided. However, with the variety of game and/or jackpot types available, the number of individual displays and associated faceplates quickly increases. Design and maintenance cost for multiple independent displays and associated faceplates is significantly higher than for a single display unit.
Prior art LED matrix displays suffer from a very crude method of displaying error messages. Upon detection of an error, an encoded message was displayed. A conversion chart provided to the service personnel permitted conversion of the encoded message into a useful descriptive message. However, in real life situations, the conversion chart is often not readily available and therefore, the messages often ignored, or service attempted without the benefit of the error message.
As can be appreciated, in the prior art, when using the displays for a dedicated purpose, or a separate display for each application, it was fairly easy to visually determine whether or not the display was properly operating. However, as the displays are becoming capable of showing many different displays at the same time, it is increasingly difficult to visually determine the existence of a failure condition. Therefore, there is a need for a method of displaying very precisely what error has occurred, and further, for putting such error descriptions into a file that can be retrieved at a later time by service personnel.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which provides improved capabilities for scheduling message tasks.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which provides comprehensive tracking and accounting of the message tasks displayed.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which can be configured to be used as a score board for various sporting events, the display presenting a selected template as a function of the selected sport.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which can be configured to have more than one virtual display area.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which displays descriptive error messages and produces a file containing the same.